SANTA MONICA, Calif. — Edmunds.com, the premier online resource for automotive information, announced that Michael Grave has joined the company as Director of National Accounts in its Dealer Initiatives area, joining Greg Smith. Smith has served the company in a similar role for almost a year.
Edmunds.com has hired approximately 130 people in 2011 to build its Dealer Initiatives business and expand the new Edmunds Direct program. Described at http://www.edmunds.com/dealers/insight-newsletter/new-edmundscom-program-directly-connects-dealers-with-car-buyers.html, the Edmunds Direct program is designed to give participating dealers direct, exclusive and immediate exposure to the rich audience of car shoppers who are actively researching and comparing vehicles on Edmunds.com. This carefully created new program is intended to be far more efficient than the “leads” system that was created in the Internet’s infancy.
“It became clear to us that the model for Internet leads just wasn’t working as well as it could,” said Donna Sechrist, Senior Vice President – Dealer Initiatives at Edmunds.com. “It didn’t treat consumers the way they want to be treated, and dealers deserved a better quality of leads as well as access to buyers who don’t like filling out online forms. We challenged ourselves to address the pain points and committed to a better way to connect dealers with shoppers that would be a win-win for both.”
There are currently 17 open positions at Edmunds.com, eight of which are within the Dealer Initiative area. Job listings can be found at http://www.edmunds.com/about/jobs/.
In his newly created position, Grave will work with Greg Smith to continue to build and manage relationships with the biggest dealer groups in the country — many of whom he worked with in his previous position as Director of Business Development for Kelley Blue Book. In that role, he was responsible for corporate sales and relationship management and served clients such as AutoNation, Carmax, Lithia, Mile One, Enterprise Car Sales, Sonic and Asbury.
“We like Michael’s style of building trusting business relationships while maintaining an outstanding company image with unwavering honesty and integrity,” stated Edmunds.com’s Executive Director – Dealer Initiatives Sean Peoples, to whom Grave will report.
“I’m thrilled to join Edmunds.com at this early point in the company’s direct-to-dealer initiative. I’m confident that this will be a rewarding environment that promotes strategic thinking and creative solutions for the continued success of our partners,” stated Grave.
Grave earned his Bachelor of Science in Business Marketing from Cal State University of Long Beach. He currently resides in Huntington Beach, CA.
About Edmunds.com, Inc. (http://www.edmunds.com/help/about/index.html)
Edmunds.com Inc. publishes Web sites that empower, engage and educate automotive consumers, enthusiasts and insiders. Edmunds.com, the premier online resource for automotive information, launched in 1995 as the first automotive information Web site. Its mobile site, accessible from any smartphone at www.edmunds.com, makes car pricing and other research tools available for car shoppers at dealerships and otherwise on the go. InsideLine.com is the most-read automotive enthusiast Web site. Its mobile site, accessible from any smartphone at www.insideline.com, features the wireless Web’s highest quality car photos and videos. AutoObserver.com provides insightful automotive industry commentary and analysis. Edmunds.com Inc. is headquartered in Santa Monica, California, and maintains a satellite office in suburban Detroit. Follow Edmunds.com on Twitter@edmunds and fan Edmunds.com on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/edmunds.
